Label-holder



(No Model.)

"L. LSMITH.

LABEL HOLDER. No. 484,902. Patented 00L. 25, 1892.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EMORY E. SMITH, OF PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA.

LABEL-HOLDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 484,902, dated October 25, 1892.

Application filed May 20.I 1892. vSerial No. 433,695. (No model.) Y

To all whom, it may concern,.-

Be it known that I, EMORY E. SMITH, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Palo Alto, county of Santa Clara, and State of California, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Label-Holders, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification.

My invention relates to a novel construction of label or card holder whereby it is adapted to readily grasp and hold the label or card, and whereby, also, it is provided with means for engaging its support, and it will be readily understood from the following description and claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l represents in front elevation my improved holder in its simplest form, provided with a pin-shank only for engaging it withits support. Fig. 2 is a similar View showing the shank-pin shouldered and adapted for use in marking potted plants, 85o. Fig. 3 shows the holder-shank adapted to engage a box side as a support. Fig. 4 shows a holder made ot malleable wire, adapting the shank to be coiled around an upright rod-support. Fig. 5 shows the holder with its shank adapted to engage the mouth or neck of abottle. Fig. 6 shows the holder in the form of a pendant, with a loop or eye on its shank adapting it to be suspended from a rod or hook and Fig. 7 shows in front and side elevation a holder bent over to engage the card or label on its lower side, and especially adapted for use in marking dry goods, duc.

In all the several forms shown the holder, with its shank and means for engaging it with its support or the article or substance to be marked or labeled, is made from a single piece of wire and bent into the form shown.

The holder part of the device in each and all the forms shows the wire bent substantially at a right angle to the shank at a. At a short distance from the angle a the wire is again bent at a right angle and brought into parallel relation, or nearly so, with the shank and'is extended to give the desired length to the sides of the holder. Itis then bent inward at a2 and extends across the plane of the shank A to the opposite side thereof and to about the same distance therefrom as the tongue CL4, substantially parallel with and midway between the sides a and a3, as shown in the several figures of the drawings.

The description of the bending ofthe holder part may be rendered more clear by saying that the wire is bent into the form of the letter O, having the sides a and a3 elongated and the tongue part a4 recurved to extend midway between the sides. The label or card to be held is inserted between the tongue a4 on the one side and the sides a and a3 of the holder on the other, and owing to the elasticity of the wire, whether the latter is teinpered to give it elasticity or not, the card or label will be held securely grasped between said parts.

For engaging a cork or similar material the end ofthe shank removed from the holder is simply sharpened to form a pin, as at b in Fig. 1. For insertion in the ground, as in marking potted plants, dac., the shank is bent into triangular or polygonal form, as shown at @,Fig. 2, and its sharpened pointb extended thence below the shoulders c', which serve to hold the device in upright position. In Fig. 3 the shank is bent at d into a form somewhat like that of the holder part, per sc-that is to say, it has sides and tongue adapting it to engage the edge or side of a box or pot, the contents of which it is intended to label. In Fig. 4 the wire used is soft and malleable and can be readily wrapped or coiled around a rod or stem of a plant to engage the holder therewith. In Fig. 5 the shank is bent at e into the V shape with its extreme end bent into inverted-hook form, adapting the shank to be inserted in and to engage the neck of a bottle. In Fig. 6 the holder is madein the form of a pendant, the upper end of its shank being provided with a loop or eyejadapting it to engage a rod or support, and in Fig. 7 the holder has a pin-shank, similar to that of Fig. l; but at the holder end it is provided with a U-shaped bend or goose-neck at g, which in- IOC) verts the holder, adapting it to receive the card or label from beneath. This form is the more especially adapted for use in labeling dry goods.

By the construction of the holder as shown--that is to say, by the bending of the wire-whereby the tongue a4 is brought into the described relation to the sides a. and a3, a torsional action of said parts upon the intervening transverse portions of the Wire is produced whenever a card or label isinserted, and consequently said parts can readily yield to admit a card of any desired thickness, without impairing the elasticity of the parts or interfering with their subsequently grasping a card of different thickness.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A label-holder having its support or shank formed integral with it from a single piece of wire and provided with the opposing sides and tongue connected as described,

whereby the torsional strength of the Wire is exerted to grasp the card or label, substantially as described.

2. 'A label-holder formed with its shank from a single piece of rod or wire and having the loop-holder formed with parallel or sub stantially-parallel sides and an intermediate tongue connected to said sides to exert a torsional action on the connecting portion of the loop, substantially as described.

3. The combination, in alabel-holder, of the loop-shaped holder portion having the sides and intermediate opposing tongue and the shank portion adapted to engage the article or support to which the label is to be applied, said loop-holder and supporting-shank being formed from a single piece of Wire, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 19th day of May, A. D. 1892. v

EMORY E. SMITH.

Witnesses:

R. H. TAYLOR, R. B. CASON. 

